Say no to this four letter breakfast food!

 Just say no to oats, the four letter breakfast food that has been shown to contain alarming levels of Chlormequat, an agricultural chemical with safety information that reads, "contact poison control immediately" following ingestion.

Apart from the above danger of consuming oats, you should also be aware of the blood glucose impact of oats. If you have never tested this, be sure to check and prepare to be amazed at how high your blood glucose levels go after consumption of oats. Do not take my word for it, test yourself and believe!

Add to above, the fact that persons consuming oats for supposed heart-health effects will be very disappointed because anything that causes your blood glucose to spike will not have a positive effect on your heart health because blood glucose spikes lead to the negative heart health effects, not positive ones.

What to eat instead? If you crave something with the texture of oatmeal, make a noatmeal breakfast bowl using the following recipe, cooked on a stove top for a few minutes:

Noatmeal Quick Bowl

1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp Hemp hearts
2 Tbsp Almond flour
2 Tbsp Unsweetened shredded coconut
1 Tbsp Flaxseed meal
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
1/4 tsp (or to taste) of your favourite sweetener or add half a ripe banana to sweeten after removing from heat

Method: Heat all ingredients on stovetop or microwave until thickened to desired consistency

Alternatives
If you prefer a meal on-the-go, try one of the following breakfast options paired with fruit:

Organic Raw Crunch Goji Berry bar

Larabar: Peanut butter chocolate chip

Larabar: Apple pie

Fat Snax crackers with almond butter

Sweet potato chips with a side of cheese

Still looking for ideas? Check out these previous posts with recipes for Grainfree breakfast crepes and grain free bread!

Cookies!

Who doesn't love cookies?

Read on for one of the easiest recipes you can make that's not just delicious but also NSNG healthy.

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/4 pound butter
1/2 or 1 cup erythritol
2 tsp vanilla extract (vanilla extract options)
2 cups (approximately) almond flour (I use this)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
optional spices: grated nutmeg, clove powder

Instructions

Cream butter and erythritol (or xylitol) until smooth, then add eggs, one at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon (if possible) or hand-mixer. Add half of the almond flour, mix well, then add the vanilla, cinnamon and optional spices and the baking soda. Continue mixing then add rest of almond flour if needed to firm up the texture. Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake 10-12 min on low heat until the edges of your flat cookies are browned.
Remove from heat to cool. Enjoy!

NSNGHealthy Bread

Let's get right to the recipe. (Feel free to read on afterwards to get some insight into why I choose this as my go-to grain free bread.)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Psyllium husk powder
3 tablespoons coconut flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar (ACV)

Instructions
Add the first four ingredients to a bowl, mix, then make a well for the liquids.
Pour the coconut oil in the well with half of the boiling water mixed with the ACV.
Mix and add additional hot water until you attain a dough that is moist and soft. If the dough is not moist, keep adding additional water in small amounts and knead well.
Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Cut the rested dough into 2 or 3 portions (or more according to the size of the bread you wish to have.)
Use a bit of the water to keep dough moist as you work with it.
Form portions of the dough into balls or half-spheres.
Place parchment paper on a baking tray and put oil on the parchment
Place dough balls on the parchment paper and moisten the surface of the dough with more oil.
Bake ~50min at 350 F
Turn off oven and leave bread in oven until cool.

This is a very simple bread recipe that produces a nice spongy textured bun, providing it rises well, which is sometimes a challenge when baking, or after the oven has been turned off. I generally leave the buns in the heat of the oven after turning off the oven heat source to help it maintain the risen shape - that's the reason the above pic was taken with the door closed! 

The taste of psyllium husk, an important ingredient for the texture, is somewhat prominent so I try to add other things to the recipe to help mask (cinnamon or nutmeg, for example), but I have not quite found anything that does it remotely well, so I usually just smother the taste (post baking) with avocado or cheese or whatever I choose to use with the bun as a sandwich and that works well. 

I really like this recipe because it is both dairy-free and egg-less while most grain free bread recipes tend to call for eggs. Not that I don't love eggs, but I prefer to save them for other yummy delicacies like this awesome grain free cake. And I do also consume dairy but we do not have a lot of cows here so guess what, dairy (of the kind I prefer) is not easily affordable. Also, some people have health issues related to dairy so I like to have recipes that can function without it. 

This recipe has been easy to double or triple. Sometimes I use a cup instead of a tablespoon to measure the coconut flour and psyllium husk powder then adjust the other amounts to match to get larger buns or to make hot dog bun sized rolls etc. Drop me a message if you want more exact measurements for a larger batch although the recipe is fairly forgiving so you can't really fail even if you don't get things exactly right - another reason I luv it!

Hope you enjoy making this recipe and eating the results! Leave me a message with pics if you can, to tell me if you tried and what was the result. (Will update with pics when I can.)

Cinnamon sheet cake

Sheet cake seems to have the best adaptability for the NSNGHealthy lifestyle. You can have your cake the grain free way! I have found many recipes online in my searches but none that I love more than this version of a "Texas sheet cake" made with mostly eggs, almond flour and cinnamon. It's sweetened with either honey or maple syrup and erythritol. The taste is wonderful and the knowledge that it's not wrecking your health has to have some amazing positive impact, I am sure.

 

Go check out the recipe here.